Bones Hyland had a rocky second season in the NBA. After bursting onto the scene with the Denver Nuggets as a rookie, Hyland fell out of favor with the team during his sophomore campaign, and ended up getting dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers before the trade deadline. In his first full season with his new team, Hyland is looking to carve out a role with the Clippers.
Los Angeles has a lot of talented players on their roster, but Hyland should have a role as a spark plug scorer off the bench for the team this upcoming season. Part of what is helping Hyland improve his game is that he is going up against one of the best players in the league in Kawhi Leonard on a daily basis at practice, and the third-year guard opened up on how much he enjoys pushing himself to put in good work when going up against Leonard.
“Kawhi be pushing me a lot man. Every time he come guard me, I know I got a challenge. I try to push Kawhi, he’s trying to push me as well. I feel like it’s really good cuz we push each other.”
Bones Hyland on guarding Kawhi Leonard in practice.
(via @TomerAzarly) pic.twitter.com/0DHFJp4Wdw
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 18, 2023
Leonard has long been regarded as one of the best defenders in the game, so for Hyland to get a chance to go up against him in practice frequently is great for his development. If he can hold his own against Leonard on both sides of the ball, then he should be able to put up some strong numbers this season with the Clippers, because few players can boast the two-way abilities that Leonard can.
Bones Hyland has always been a strong scorer off the bench, but the Clippers will hope he can improve his game so that he can become a more consistent rotation piece for them. Working against Leonard will surely help him take those steps forward, and it will be interesting to see how Hyland performs in his first full season with the Clippers after an offseason of practicing with Leonard.
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